Suspension of ceiling tile



April 21, 1959 i JACOBSON r 2,882,558

SUSPENSION 0F CEILING TILE Filed May l8. 1954 INVENTORS Arthur L. Jacobson nM o s United States atent O SUSPENSION OF CEILING TILE Arthur L. Jacobson and Stanley E. Sorenson, Seattle, Wash.

Application May 18, 1954, Serial No. 430,506

3 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) The present invention relates to suspended ceiling systems in which the exposed ceiling is made up of multiple panels such as acoustical tiles and the suspension means is completely hidden from view. More particularly, this invention concerns itself with such systems in which horizontal heads are suspended by hangers from the over head structure of the building and runners are clamped thereto at right angles to form a supporting grid for the ceiling panels.

In all prior hidden-suspension ceiling systems in use, and namely systems in which no part of the tile-suspending means can be seen when the ceiling is viewed from below, it has not been possible to remove and replace the tiles individually whenever access is needed to the space thereabove, for purpose, say, of reaching power or telephone wires, plumbing, etc., which is received in said space. It will be understood that the present trend is toward overhead application of utility lines wherever possible. Access thereto is obviously required on occasion, and the advantages attendant upon providing individual removal of tile, selectively, so that access can be had to the overhead space at any given place or places are self-evident. It is important that the same title or tiles which are removed be replaced in that tile, after they have been installed, will gradually darken. A new tile will consequently not match old tile. Prior to the advent of the present suspension system the only arrangements which have permitted individual removal of the suspended tiles have had a part of the suspension system exposed to view from below, the best known of these prior systems being commonly termed an open grid system and being characterized in that the edges of the tile rely for their support upon exposed flanges. The exposure of these flanges or, in fact, the exposure of any part other than the face of the tile itself is highly objectionable from an ornamental standpoint. Having the foregoing in mind, it is a principal object of our invention to provide a practical ceiling suspension system which corrects this obvious defect in the systems commercially common today without unduly complicating the supporting grid and without necessitating the use of special tools.

Other more particular objects and advantages will, together with this general object, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective plan view illustrating our suspended ceiling system as viewed from above the suspend-. ed ceiling.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, it is seen that we have illustrated our invention as applied to the suspension of acoustical tiles 9 each of which is provided in at least two opposite edges thereof with a groove or kerf 10.. The kerf is here shown as running about the entire perimeter, and separates a lip 11 above from a lip 12 below. Such upper or top lip 11 has somewhat less projection than the bottom lip 12.

Accordingly, when the juncture of the two abutting tiles is viewed in vertical cross-section the opposed kerfs 10 and resulting horizontal gap between the shorter top lips 11 give a T-shaped cutout for receiving suspension apparatus. In the past this apparatus has consisted of parallel runners each of which included a T-section so that once a tile had two of its opposite edges fitted onto possible, it will be noted that our suspension system utilizes conventional channel headers 13, commonly.

known as lathers channel, which are regularly spaced across the ceiling and are suspended from the overheadstructure as by hanger wires 14. Clarnped to and be-.

neath these channels 13 by wire clips 15 are runners 16 of a general channel configuration. formed of single strands of wire each of which has apair of spaced parallel legs 17, 18 for straddling the channels. At their upper ends these legs turn in and meet one another and then extend upwardly together at 20 for a relatively short distance after which they bend downwardly at a slope to present a beak 21. The lower ends of the legs 17, 18 have foot prolongations 22, 23 bent at substantially right angles to the vertical plane defined by the legs and located on the same side as the beak 21. It will be noted that the upper flange 24 of the runners 16 has a moderate downward bend near its free edge to provide a locking lip 25, and accordingly the feet 22, 23 are downwardly offset in a moderatedegree at their juncture with the legs 17, 18 so as to-- be enabled to fit under this lip.

The lower flange 26 of the runners 16 is designed to fit into the kerf 10 along the back edge of a tile and thereby support such back edge thereof. For a purpose vertical width of the kerf into which said flange 26 isv received is appreciably greater than the thickness (gauge) of the flange. To support the opposite or front edge of the tile there are provided hangers designated generally, by the numeral 27. Each of these hangers has a bottom horizontal flange 28 complementing the lower flange 26 of the runners, a central standing flange 30, and a top horizontal flange 31 directed oppositely to its bottom flange 28. This top flange 31 is shaped to seat on the upper flange 24 of the runners and includes a down wardly sloped terminal lip 32 mating with the locking lip 25. The central section of the hangers is or may be longitudinally ribbed at 33 near its lower edge so that." the T11) together with the central standing section of the;

runners give a combined thickness approximating the width of the gap between the top lips 11 of two abutting tiles.

To erect our suspension system the channel headers 13 are first suspended by the wire hangers 14 at intervals of about three or four tile widths. The runners 16 are" then secured by the clips 15 to the channels in crosswise relation thereto and separatedthe width of one tile- Patented Apr. 21, 1959" As afore The clips 15 are.

one from another. To apply one of these clips the same is dropped down over the channel with its legs 17, 18 straddling the same and then the upper flange 24 of the runner is inserted between the feet 22, 23. The installer then takes a pair of pliers and squeezes the beak 21 of each clip toward the latters upright portion 20. This squeezing action reduces the distance between the beak and the clip feet 22, 23 to such a degree that the channel and runner are tightly clamped. therebetween as shown in the drawings. V

With the channel headers and runners fixed in position, the next step is the actual installation of the tiles 9. To install a tile it is first tilted at an angle so as to clear the runners, and the said tilted tile is then raised through the opening between two runners until the kerf of the tiles back edge (this being the lower edge of the tilted tile) is on the same level as the lower flanges 26 of the runners. The tilt is so performed that said back edge is proximal to the front face of a runner, considering the front face as being that face from which the two flanges 24 and 26 project. Into the kerf of the elevated front edge of the tilted tile there is now inserted the bottom flange 28 of a hanger 27, although this procedure may, if desired, have been performed previous to raising the tile through the opening. For ease of description, let the runner which lies proximal to the elevated front edge of the tilted tile be termed the front runner, and the runner which lies proximal to the lower back edge be termed the back runner. With the said hanger in position, the operator first slips the kerf of the tiles back edge onto the bottom flange 26 of the back runner, and then allows the front edge of the tile to drop into place, the standing flange 30 of the hanger sliding downwardly along the back face of the front runner until the top flange 31 comes to rest upon the top horizontal flange 24 of the runner. In the course of this downward movement of the hanger-carrying front edge of the tile it will be apparent that the tile will have performed a swinging action pivoting about its back edge as a fulcrum. The significance of having the vertical width of the kerf appreciably greater than the thickness of the horizontal flange 26 which is received therein will now 'be apparent, the greater width permitting the tile to partake of such pivotal action.

Referring to Fig. 1 it can be seen that any tile which lies in part beneath the channel 13 employs a short hanger and must be first placed in the position of one of the tiles against which it will ultimately abut and then be slid with its hanger along the runners 16 in order to bring the tile beneath the channel 13. For reducing air circulation to the space above the tiles, the gap between the back lips 12 of abutting tiles may be covered with strips 34 which have a V-shaped central positioning rib 35 which fits into the gap.

The hangers 27 may extend substantially the entire width of a respective tile 9 or can be short and used singly or in multiple along the groove in the concerned side edge of a tile. Likewise if there is no desire to be able to raise the tiles between a pair of channels 13 individually, the hanger 27 can extend from one tile to another and then the two or more tiles common to such hanger must be installed or removed together.

If access is required to the space above one of the tiles 9, the tile can be readily removed by reversing the installation procedure, and namely by pushing up the front or hanger-carrying edge of the tile to elevate the related hanger 27 free of its runner 16 and then shifting the tile forwardly 'while in its tilted position so as to free the back edge of the tile from the lower flange 2 6 of the other supporting runner. If the tile ,to be removed lies partially beneath one of the channel headers 13 it is necessary to first remove one of the tiles against which it abuts, shift the tile sidewise from beneath the channel, and then remove it as described.

.I tho g t that t in ent on ha e een dearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of our illustrated now-preferred embodiment. Minor changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves and we accordingly intend that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation which the employed language fairly permits.

What we claim is:

1. In a suspended ceiling system, a plurality of correspondingly spaced and rigidly mounted stationary runners of a general channel configuration in section placed parallel to one another in a common horizontal plane and each providing upper and lower forwardly directed flanges interconnected at the back, a row of ceiling tiles each having a length equal to the center-to-center spacing of the runners and each kerfed along the full length of both its front and back edges and having back-cuts in the pottions of the tile which overhang its front and back kerfs, said tiles being received between said runners with the said lower flange of each runner fitting in the back kerf of a related tile along the full length of such kerf so as to support the back edge of said tile, while being hidden from below the ceiling, and a respective hanger for supporting the front end of each of said tiles having a general Z-shape in section providing an upper forwardly directed flange and a lower rearwardly directed flange, the lower flange of each of said hangers fitting into the front kerf of a related tile while being hidden from below the ceiling and the upper flange of each of said hangers resting upon the upper flange of the proximal runner, there being enough space between the upper faces of the tiles and the upper flanges of said runners and enough unobstructed space above the latter said upper flanges as will permit the upper flange of the related hanger to be so elevated that the tilt thereby given to the related tile allows the tile to be slid forwardly sufficient to fully retract from the kerf of the tiles back edge the lower flange which fits therein, the vertical dimension of the back kerfs of the tiles being sufliciently greater than the thickness of the lower flanges related thereto as to permit said tilting of the tiles.

2. The system of claim 1 in which said hangers extend substantially the full length of the front kerf of the respective tile.

3. In a suspended ceiling system, a plurality of cor.- respondingly spaced and rigidly mounted stationary run ners of a general channel configuration in section placed parallel to one another in a common horizontal plane and each providing upper and lower forwardly directed flanges interconnected at the back, a row of ceiling tiles each having a length equal to the center-to-center spacing of the runners and each kerfed along the full length of both its front and back edges and having back-cuts in the portions of the tile which overhang its front and back kerfs, said tiles being received between said runners with the said lower flange of each runner fitting in the back kerf of a related tile along the full length of such kerf so as to support the back edge of said tile while being hidden from below the ceiling, and respective hanger means for supporting the front end of each of said tiles and providing an upper forwardly directed flange interconnected with a lower rearwardly directed flange, the lower flange of said hanger means fitting into the front kerf of a related tile while being hidden from below the ceiling and the upper flange of said hanger means resting upon the upper flange of the proximal runner, there being enough space between the upper ce o the t l a d th uppe fl es o sa d runners n e o unc u te Space b ve the at r said upper flanges as will permit the upper flange of the related hanger means to be so elevated that the tiltthereby given to the related tile allows the tile to he slid forwardly suflicient to fully retract from the kerf of the tiles back edge the lower flange which fits therein, the vettisal d mension o the back text a he t e being sufliciently greater than the thickness of the lower flanges related thereto as to permit said tilting of the tiles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Rader Dec. 2, 1902 Herbert May 5, 1914 Venzie June 14, 1932 Venzie Dec. 20, 1932 10 Macleod Dec. 11, 1934 6 Voigt Mar. 9, 1937 Venzie Aug. 3, 1937 Gustavino Jan. 19, 1939 Olsen Apr. 28, 1942 Jorn Dec. 15, 1953 Jacobson Feb. 2, 1954 Jorn June 7, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 22, 1942 

